Abbas justifies terror against Israelis as 17 people are wounded in Jerusalem Featured

WJC, A Palestinian motorist rammed into a bus stop in Jerusalem on Monday, injuring 17 people before he was shot dead by a security guard, Israeli police said. On the same day, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the wave of terror a "justified popular uprising."

The latest attack took place near the western entrance to Jerusalem, leading to the main highway to Tel Aviv, and the injured included two people in a moderate condition and a baby. The man drove up, accelerated and rammed his vehicle into the crowd. The car hit a water main and a huge spray erupted.

The attacker was identified by police as 21-year-old Abdel Muhsan Hasuna of East Jerusalem. An axe was found in the attacker's vehicle, police said. On Tuesday, Hamas in Gaza said the terrorist was an active member of its organization.

An 'Israel Radio' reporter said she had seen the car mount the pavement and strike people before shots rang out. "I was about to turn left to Tel Aviv, suddenly a car went up onto a bus station, shots immediately opened up. There are people in the station. A number of people simply lifted up the car, because there were people underneath it," Miri Krimolovsky told her station.

One of his victims, Yotam Sitbon, a 15-month-old toddler, had his foot torn off in the attack. The baby's father, Binyamin, said: "Thank God he is healthy and he will smile again. That is the most important thing."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the wave of attacks as "a new type of terror by individuals which challenges us and other countries". He also praised the quick response of people at the scene whose actions "prevented far more serious tragedies".

Abbas calls wave of terror 'justified'

Meanwhile, also on Monday, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas referred to the last three months of violence against Israelis as a "justified popular uprising," saying that young Palestinian demonstrators were "driven by despair" because "a two-state solution is not coming."

The violence had come due to “the despair of young Palestinians over the lack of a political horizon for the two-state solution, the [Israeli] invasion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the continuation of settlement building and military checkpoint deployment,” Abbas said in Ramallah on Monday.

In his speech, the Palestinian leader repeated accusations that Israel was seeking to change the status quo on the Temple Mount and that this had been a major source of Palestinian rage directed at Israelis.